New trial date set for Oroville developer charged with child sex abuse

OROVILLE — A new trial date was set Thursday for an Oroville developer facing 24 counts of child sex abuse.

Defendant Christopher Stephen Carter had been set to face trial Monday in Butte County Superior Court, but Judge Steven Howell granted the prosecution's request to reset the trial to Sept. 9.

Deputy district attorney Jennifer Dupre-Tokos sought the continuance because the alleged victim, now 19, faced missing key dates around college finals if she testified as originally planned.

Defense attorney Jesse Santana objected to the request, saying Carter would like his day in court. He also argued the woman wouldn't be unduly burdened by testifying because she could study anywhere.

Dupre-Tokos said the woman's testimony about the alleged assault would be emotional. She also said it could further damage the alleged victim if she was prompted to withdraw from a semester's worth of classes.

Judge Howell granted the request. Dupre-Tokos said the woman would ensure her schedule didn't conflict with future trial dates.

Nearly all of the counts Carter faces pertain to the woman, including the charge the defendant continuously sexually abused her from 1999 until she turned 14 in July 2007. Charges address alleged conduct through May 2011, when the woman was 17.

Carter is also charged with poisoning an adult female.

Also Thursday, the judge denied a defense motion to suppress a key piece of evidence — surveillance video from the minor's bedroom that reportedly depicts conduct between Carter and the minor when she was 17.

The adult female had placed the cameras in a kitchen and in the minor's bedroom after expressing concerns Carter was poisoning her in May 2011.

During arguments, Santana said the video evidence should be tossed because police reviewed it without a search warrant. He said the adult female — as a private party — only reviewed the video after she brought the cameras' digital video recorder to police. Further, police didn't have the right to review video files beyond that already reviewed by the adult female.

Dupre-Tokos said the video review was valid — the woman's initial private review of the video allowed police to investigate further. Carter's expectation of privacy expired after the private party reviewed a portion of the video and case law allowed police to subsequently review other video files on the same disk.

Judge Howell noted it wasn't an open-and-shut matter, but ruled case law appeared to favor the prosecution. He denied suppressing the video.